Tois &yvooves,
458 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [cHap. v.
an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lorn, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. But the soul that doeth ought presump- tuously ” (with an high hand),......“ the same reproacheth the Lorp; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” And it is so also under the gospel. For after we profess an interest in the sacrifice of Christ unto our justification and sanctification, there are sins that men may fall into “ presumptuously,” and “ with an high hand,” for which there is no relief: “ For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacri- fice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries,” Heb. x. 26, 27. All other sins whatever come within the rank and order of them which are committed 733¥2, by “ignorance” or error of mind. Of these there is no man that liveth and is not guilty, Eccles. vi. 20; 1 Sam. ii. 2. Yea, they are so multiplied in us or upon us as no man living can know or understand them, Ps. xix. 12. By sins of ignorance, then, are not understood only those which were “ ex igno- rantia juris,” or when men sinned against the law because they knew it not; doing what it forbade, as not knowing that it was forbidden; and omitting what was commanded, as not knowing that it was commanded. This kind of ignorance Abimelech pleaded in the case of his taking Sarah, the wife of Abraham, in that he knew her not to be a married woman; which plea, as to some part of his guilt, God admits of, Gen. xx. 4-6. And this ignorance was that which preserved the case of our apostle, in his blasphemy and persecution, from being remediless, and his sin from being a sin of presumption, or with a high hand, 1 Tim. i. 12,13. But this sort of sins only is not intended, although we see by these instances how great and heinous provocations may be of this kind. But those are in this case, and in opposition unto presumptuous sins, reckoned unto sins of ignorance, when the mind or practical understanding, being cor- rupted or entangled by the power of sin and its advantageous circumstances, doth not attend unto its duty, or the rule of all its actions; whence actual sin doth ensue. And this is the principal cause and spring of all the sins of our lives, as I have elsewhere de- clared, treating of the power of indwelling sin.’ Those, therefore, who are “ ignorant” in this place, are such as who, through the in- advertency of their minds, or want of a due and diligent attendance unto the rule of all their actions, do fall into sin as well as those who do so through a mere ignorance of their duty.
He adds, xai rravwuévors, “to them that wander out of the way.” The reader may see what we have spoken concerning this word on
' See vol. vi. p. 153 of the author’s works.—Ep.
VER. 2.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 459
chap. iii. 10, Our sinning is often thus expressed, Ps, cxix. 176, “1 have gone astray like a perishing sheep.” Isa. liii. 6, “ We like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” We have erred, or wandered astray from the way of God, and turned unto our own ways. “ Ye were as sheep going astray,” 1 Pet. ii, 25. But we must observe, that there is a twofold erring or wander- ing expressed by this word in this epistle. The one is in heart: "Asi whaviivras +7 xapdig,—“ They always err in their heart.” The other is im owr ways, going out of them; which is here intended. The former is the heart’s dislike of the ways of God, and voluntary relinquishment of them thereon. This answers to the presumptuous sinning before mentioned, and is no object of compassion either in God or our High Priest; for concerning them who did so, “ God sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest.” But there may be a wandering in men’s ways, when yet their hearts are upright with God. So it is said of Asa, that “his heart was perfect all his days,’ 2 Chron. xv. 17; yet his great wanderings from the ways of God are recorded, chap. xvi. 7-10, 12. There is therefore included in this word a seduction by temptation into some course of wandering for a season from the ways of God. Who then are these of wiavépmevor? Hven those who by the power of their temptations have been seduced and turned from the straight paths of holy obedience, and have wandered in some crooked paths of their own.
And in these two words doth the apostle comprise all sorts of sinners whatever, with all sorts of sins, and not merely those which are commonly esteemed of infirmity or ignorance; for he intends all those sins which the high priest was to confess, sacrifice, and inter- cede for, on the behalf of the people. And this was, “all the ini- quities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,” Lev. xvi. 21. It is true, as the law was the instrument of the Jewish polity, there was no sacrifice appointed for some sins, if precisely known and legally proved by witnesses; because the sinners were to be punished capitally, for the preservation of public order and peace. And God would not allow an instance of accepting a sacrifice where the offender was to suffer; which would have over- thrown the principal notion of sacrifices, wherein the guilt of the offerer was, as to punishment, transferred unto the beast to be offered. But otherwise, without respect unto civil rule and legal proof, all sorts of sins were to be expiated by sacrifices. And they are here by our apostle reduced unto two heads, whence two sorts of sinners are denominated:—(1.) Such as men fall into by the neglect and JSailure of their minds in attending unto their duty; which is their sinful ignorance. (2.) Such as men are seduced unto some conti- nuance in through the power of their temptation, and that against their light and knowledge. Such are ignorant or wanderers out of